Heat exchangers used in motor vehicle air conditioning systems, namely condensers, commonly have a plurality of parallel flat sided extruded tubes connected at opposite ends to a pair of headered tanks, and air centers connected between the tubes to facilitate efficient heat transfer to the surrounding area. The tanks generally comprise separate headers with slots therethrough for receiving the ends of the extruded tubes, and a tank member secured to the header to supply refrigerant and receive same from the tubes. The air centers are brazed to the sides of adjacent tubes, and the tubes are brazed or otherwise bonded to the header along with the tanks to assure leakfree joints.
During assembly, the header and tanks must be secured to one another so that brazing can seal the joints therebetween. It has been known to align and fasten the tank to the header by use of self-contained preformed tabs at spaced intervals about the periphery of the header or tank as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,145, issued Nov. 20, 1990 in the name of Lyon and assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. The preformed tabs are clinched about and over the adjoining header or tank to provide proper alignment between the mating tank and header, and also provide appropriate contact pressure to facilitate the joining or brazing process.
Unrelated to the application of exchangers or condensers, various types of snaps or interlocking members have been known to attach two members to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,020, issued Sep. 24, 1991 in the name of Schleicher discloses a leak proof joint wherein the joint retains overlapping sheets of a deformable material. The joint is comprised of nested cup shaped cavities formed out of the plane of the sheets having a central spot and a continuous wall region extending from the spot to the cavity periphery. The region of the sheets adjacent the cavity periphery is pinched together causing the cavity walls to inwardly radially deform, securely interlocking the sheets firmly together.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,306, issued Jan. 24, 1989 in the name of Collins et al discloses a method of securing handles to plastic containers which includes inserting a snap into an aperture.